Life is precious

Remembrance Day in Canada has aroused more poignant feelings than it has for many years. For the first time in living memory Canadian soldiers have been killed on Canadian soil. The incidents appear to have been unrelated, uncoordinated. In each case, only one soldier and the attacker died.

Two young Canadian men had come to blame our society for their problems and converted to Islam. They found websites and met individuals who filled their minds with teachings of jihad and decided that Allah wanted them to kill some of their fellow Canadians, preferably those wearing uniforms of the Canadian Armed Forces.

The aftermath has been reassuring. Ordinary citizens rushed to the assistance of the soldier who was shot while standing guard at the National War Memorial and tried to resuscitate him, although without success. There has been an outpouring of sympathy for the fallen soldiers and their families. Most Muslim imams in Canada have come out strongly against radical Islamist teachings that lead to such actions. We have all been made freshly aware of the value of human life.

There are a few radical imams in the country. The RCMP and CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Agency) know who they are. The two attackers were being monitored by the police. We still live in a free society and such people cannot just be rounded up because they have expressed leanings toward radical Islam. There is no telling when such thoughts might turn to action.

While the RCMP and CSIS are necessary to restrain the forces of evil, they are not the real solution to the problem of evil. What we need is a renewed appreciation of the meaning and value of life.

Jesus said “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Griping Christians are not much of a witness of the abundant life. Neither is artificial enthusiasm. The peace and joy of a Spirit-filled life will be much more convincing.

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